Container Candle Craze

I walked to the grocery store and bought 12 mason jars to make container candles.

They only cost eight dollars and I like the fact that they have lids so you can put them back on when you’re not using them. That way the scent doesn’t leech out faster than you would like.

They’re one of the easiest candles to make especially when your wicks are pretabbed wicks and you have these wick stickums to hold them down. They’re two sided round stickers that stick to the tabs so they don’t fly all over the place.

I made vanilla and jasmine scented container candles. To color the vanilla I added about a quarter of a brown dye chip to a pound of soy wax and for the jasmine, I added half a red once they heated up to 200 degrees Fahrenheit.

For the scent, I used solid concentrated scent from Yardley. It says to add an eighth or more so I used a third, since I’m sick of having weak scented candles. We will see how that goes.

I used a little over two pounds of wax and that ended up making three container candles. Since I only had a bit of vanilla and jasmine scented wax left over I made a layered candle with the last one and I think it turned out pretty. This time I was patient and waited for the first layer to completely cool.

I have nine more jars to go and I was going to make some with lavender essential oil but since it’s one in the morning here, I think I will leave them for another day.

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Human brains are pretty amazing, allowing us to think, feel, create, communicate, move and more. But humans aren’t the only animals with cool brains, as Crab Museum explains in the book The No-Brainer Brain Explainer (illustrated by Bruno Valasse).

This book, aimed at kids in grades 1-4, is colorful and silly but also educational about how brains actually work, with billions of neurons sending electrical and chemical signals around the body.

“Everything we think, feel and experience comes from an electrical relay race, with neurons passing chemical batons to each other,” the book says. “The constant chatter of billions of brain cells creates your entire world.”

The book compares the brains of mammals to those of crabs (the book is “written” by a crab after all) and notes that crabs have fewer neurons and of course are much smaller, but they have separate parts of their brains that control their eyes and their legs. Crabs are also capable of remembering things, using tools and solving puzzles.

Some animals’ brains allow them to know more about their world in different ways from humans, such as spiders being sensitive to vibrations in their webs and catfish having an amazing sense of taste, with taste sensors all over their bodies.

It notes that 95 percent of brain activity goes toward things we do unconsciously, like breathing, walking and catching a ball flying toward us. It also talks about dreams, memory, how our emotions try to predict the future, where brains came from and fun facts about brains. For example, did you know a sperm whale is believed to have the biggest brain of any creature that’s even lived? Their brains weigh 18 pounds, compared to just 2.5 pounds for humans.

Information on what creatures have the smallest brains, the toughest brains, the most brains and those who actually eat their own brains will delight kids (and maybe gross them out a little bit). They’ll also enjoy learning about the mycelium network of fungi, which is like a brain without a body, and slime molds, which are like a brain without a brain.

It ends talking about why human brains are so special because we’ve found ways to work together, communicate and build communities on a scale bigger than any other animal.

Kids and adults alike will enjoy this colorful, silly and informational book about brains!

About the book: 64 pages, hardcover. Published 2026 by Wide Eyed Editions. Suggested retail price $19.99.

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